


i'll be seeing you (in all the old familiar places)

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Coulson is a dork, Daisy Is A Superhero, Dialogue, Drinking, Drunk Shenanigans, Emotional, F/M, IN SPACE!, Kissing, On the Run, Post-Season/Series 04, Road Trips, Romance, Sharing a Bed, Temporary Amnesia, Tropes, Unresolved Sexual Tension, cosmic bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 13:47:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 15,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11291910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: Coulson + space + amnesia.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zauberer_sirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/gifts).



> I don't know what's happening. I never write long fic because I always struggle with writing longer stuff.

She finds him at a small bar. Or rather, that's where she's been waiting for him to show up. It was not too hard to track him down since his escape – not for her, at least, she'd probably recognize Coulson anywhere: Coulson and his walk, Coulson and his stubble, Coulson and the way he half-smiles, Coulson and how he leans over to listen carefully. She's eager to talk to him; she won't discuss how she managed to get to this planet, it's a very long and unpleasant story, and definitely not one for their first conversation since he got sent to do forced labour.

He walks into the bar in a black coat and a hat, obviously trying to keep a low profile, and while he's good at channeling a Marlowe vibe, she instantly recognizes him. Smiling, she makes her way over to him to stand at the bar. Making their elbows touch with a very stealthy move (in the hope that it's going to make him smile), she says, without really looking at him, "Hey, stranger."  
The small pause before he speaks tells her he's a little uncomfortable, and God, she hopes it's the circumstances and not her stupid hookup line.   
"You look familiar," he says, and with all the music, Daisy suddenly isn't sure how much humour there was in his words. She turns to look at him, and his face is blank, like he's got absolutely no clue what's going on.

"Oh fuck me," she says, under her breath.   
"Coulson?," she asks, just to be sure.  
He looks a little panicked, his voice low and insecure.   
"Yeah. How did you find me?"  
"Long story," she says. "Do you remember me?"  
He looks very irritated. "No." She sees him swallow. "I'm sorry. That's not usually – that's definitely not my style," and she assumes he's talking about – he's probably talking about sex.   
"It's fine," she replies, trying very, very hard not to scare him in some way, considering the situation. "But I really need to talk to you."  
Coulson eyes the sofa in the corner, but she instantly catches his look, tells him, "Not here though."

*

It takes her a few hours to summarize the past few months for him, to tell him as briefly as possible who he is and how he ended up here. It's superficial information, but there are things he needs to know immediately. They're sitting at the docks, it's very dark and empty here at night, and the lights in the distance make everything a little nostalgic. She's already beating herself up for choosing such a melancholy place for this.

"Thank you," he says, after a moment of silence.   
"I'm sorry," she says immediately. "I wish I'd found you earlier."  
"It's not your fault," he sighs.   
"Do you know how it happened?"  
"How I lost my memory?" It seems a little ironic. "I don't really know, except that I woke up with bandages around my head one day. They told me it was a work accident, so I didn't have to work for the next few weeks."  
"You don't sound like you believe that."  
"I don't. Some of the other workers have been talking about me getting interrogated about something I did on Earth."

She takes a deep breath, because that's entirely possible. And it doesn't seem exactly below the current government's standards to apply _shady_ interrogation methods.  
"I'm so sorry," she says.  
"You believe that?"  
"It sounds like something the current government would have no qualms doing."  
"Oh."  
"We have a history with that," she adds, gesturing vaguely.  
He nods, like everything she says is necessarily true, and she feels a little bad about that.

"Can I ask something?," he says, suddenly.  
It makes her sad. "Anything."  
"Who are you?"  
"Oh no, I'm so sorry. We – I'm --" This is hard. "We work together."  
"So you're with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"  
"Yeah."  
"Do you like working at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"  
It really takes her a while to reply, because no, she hates S.H.I.E.L.D., she sort of always has. But working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was never the point, was never why she did it. God, she'd probably have worked for the fucking police if it had meant doing any good.  
"No," she finally says, truthfully. "I like working with you."  
It's the first thing that makes him smile. "Thank you."

She smiles back, and he seems to be thinking about something for a moment, then shrugs a little, turns back to look at the water.  
"I'm Daisy," she says, extending her hand.   
He seems so grateful, shaking hands with her. "Coulson," he says, obviously a little embarrassed. It's painful to see.  
"Do you know my first name?," he asks after a beat. For a moment, Daisy doesn't know what to say, then he goes on, "My uniform said _Coulson_ , back at the station, but that's all I know."  
"It's Phil," she says, and it sounds warmer than she would have expected herself to sound.  
"Phil as in Phillip?"   
She nods.

He looks pensive. "Do you call me Phil?"  
"I didn't for a long time. Then there was a period when I did, but it seems that – it seems that I've forgotten about that lately? I don't know. I mean – it's a little complicated, I guess?," she says, hoping it doesn't actually sound complicated.  
He still draws the wrong conclusion from it, and she feels so, so sorry.  
"Have we – have we been involved?" He looks a little scared, asking that.  
At this point, Daisy sort of wants to say, _sadly not_ , but just shakes her head. A part of her almost expects him to say _thank God_ , but he doesn't, and she figures Coulson is still Coulson, he would never talk like that.

"Would you call me Phil?," he asks, in a very small voice. She doesn't know if he's suggesting anything, but he looks ... he just looks really lonely, to be honest, and how could she say no to him anyways.  
"Sure."  
"Guess we're friends then," he says, and his smile keeps her from saying _we've always been_.


	2. Chapter 2

They go to pick up Daisy's bag from a station, then she rents them a two-bed motel room. The place looks out-of-the-way enough to keep them safe for a one or two nights, she thinks.  
"I brought you some of your stuff," she says. His eyes go wide.  
She goes on to reveal a few things from inside her bag piece by piece.  
"I brought you some clean clothes," she goes, presenting a few shirts and some pants, "okay, underwear," she says, blushing a little. "Socks. Also this is your toothbrush," he smiles at that, "and I thought I'd bring you a book. I don't know what you've been reading before .... _before_ , but I brought you ... It's _Hamlet_ ," she says, and he lights up at that. "Sounds like a great choice," he offers, and she's so relieved, she's _immensely_ relieved.

She goes to brush her teeth, and he follows her into the bathroom, like he maybe wouldn't want to be alone, and starts to brush his teeth too. They make eye contact in the mirror for a moment, and while it feels awkward, Daisy's heart also does a little happy jump, because it can only go uphill from here, right?  
She's so focused on thinking about what to do next that she knows over one of the glasses on the sink. Before she knows what happened, Coulson, who just finished brushing, immediately catches it with his right hand. It takes her a beat to understand, but that means muscle memory, right? She wishes she knew more about amnesia, but then again, Lincoln was right about her being a dropout, she guesses. 

She quickly washes her face, then turns to Coulson, who still looks a little surprised at the fact that he caught the glass.   
"You've got great skills," she says. "You always did."  
"Like what?," he asks.   
"I mean ... Everything, basically. Fighting, running, shooting, cooking. Movie trivia." It cracks him up, and it's so good to hear him laugh.  
When he catches he breath, he says, "What kind of fighting?"

She briefly thinks about it, then says, "Everything, basically. You mix everything. And sometimes, it looks crazy, but you get the job done."  
"It looks crazy?"  
"Yeah," she laughs. "You've got this move where you basically jump at the other person and sort of hug their neck with your thighs? That's how you take them down."  
"I sound cool," he says, chuckling.  
"You are," she nods, because that's the truth.  
"How do you fight?," he then asks, and Daisy feels kind of hesitant to tell him right now. 

"I've got – I do it a little differently," she says.  
"You suddenly look sad," he says. "I'm sorry, I was just wondering."  
"No, it's fine," she replies.  
"There's something you need to tell me, right?," he says. "But you're not comfortable telling me."  
She won't deny it. "Yeah. But it's not you. It's – it's a long story. I'll tell you."  
He touches her shoulder. "Don't worry," he says. She carefully looks at him, sees him smile.

*

She's awake before him, this hasn't been her best night of sleep. Trying to be very quiet, she tiptoes to the bathroom to wash her face and drink some water. As she's sneaking back to her bed, she sees him wake up, rub his eyes. He looks a little ... maybe a little disoriented when he sits up. 

He smiles, though, when he sees her. "Good morning, Daisy," he offers.  
"Good morning."  
"I was just – I had a weird dream," he says. "Nothing big, don't worry," he starts, "I just saw ... like a red axe on a wall? In some sort of office?" He rubs his eyes again. "It was weird."  
"Sounds like your office," she says. "When you were Director."  
"Oh?" He looks happy about it. "Okay, then I guess it was a good dream," he adds. She nods.

"Do you remember anything about your arm?," she suddenly asks.  
"My arm? Oh, my left arm. Not really," he says. "I figured I'd lost it in some kind of accident. Do you know what happened?"  
"Uh ... yeah. It's complicated, but you caught something that – something that would have killed a lot of people if it would have reached the ground. But that destroyed you arm," she says. "Mack – a mutual friend of ours chopped it off so it would – so there wouldn't be more damage to your body."  
It feels weird, omitting things.

"Okay," he says. "That sounds complicated. But this Mack must be a great guy." She smiles at that.  
"Yeah, not everybody would have chopped their boss' arm off with an axe."  
"So he saved my life?"  
"Yeah," Daisy nods. "Mack really is a great guy."  
Coulson seems to pick that up immediately. "Is he – Are you --?"  
"No," she says, laughing. "He's got an awesome girlfriend."  
"And you?," he asks, smirking, and while Daisy is blushing a little at the question, she can't deny she's missed the smirk. It's so him.

"I'm single," she says, and it almost sounds a little cheeky. She can't believe she's actually flirting with Coulson.  
"And me?," he asks, and while it's meant to be funny, it's also a little sad. She smiles nevertheless.   
"You're single too."  
"Good to know," he says, and while he's trying to keep things light, she can't help but think that Coulson is pretty unhappy about it, has been unhappy even before getting exiled.

"Coffee?," he suggests, suddenly, and Daisy nods enthusiastically because she remembers Coulson's coffee skills. And she's not disappointed, it's pretty incredible what he end up getting out of the shitty filter coffee machine in the motel room.  
"I've always loved your coffee," she says, and she can see her compliment reconcile something he's been thinking about. He smiles.  
"Do I make you coffee, usually?"  
"You do sometimes," she says.  
"Like a morning latte?," he asks, and she's surprised.  
"Exactly."  
He looks a little smug now, and it's adorable.


	3. Chapter 3

They go out for lunch later, to a nearby fast-food place, and it's actually really nice. Not the food, but having lunch with Coulson after such a long time. She's asked him what he remembers from before coming here, and he tells her about a few small things he remembers about his parents. It's a little heartbreaking, but Coulson doesn't seem that sad telling her. She almost feels a little honoured, because while she's known some things about his childhood, it feels like Coulson trusts her with things that are important to him. Not that there has been an occasion upon which he didn't trust her, really. Unlike other people, she thinks, and she's ... she's just really glad she's found Coulson.

When they get back to the motel, though, she instantly realizes their room has been compromised.  
"Someone was here, right?," he says, right away.  
"Yeah," she says. "Good eye. Wait a minute," she says, sneaks around the room, carefully approaching the bathroom with one arm stretched out in front of her. It's empty, though, and she gives Coulson a reassuring nod.  
"How did you know?," she says.  
"I don't know," he admits. "Guess I remembered something from work?"  
"Probably," she says. "You're a good spy."   
They exchange a smile.  
"Come on, let's pack," she says, and in less than five minutes, they're out.

Daisy has to steal a car, because public transportation means more visibility. As she hot-wires it, she carefully studies Coulson's expression, and he doesn't even bat an eye. On the contrary, if it weren't so absurd, she'd say there was a little admiration in his eyes. It makes her oddly happy.  
"Where did you learn that?," he asks after they've left the centre area.  
"Oh, I ... I spent a few years living on the streets," she says, like it's nothing. "I got a van, though, after a while."  
"That sounds exciting," he says, like he knows exactly which type of questions to avoid. "Did you go to a lot of places?"

"I did, actually," she says, pleased. "That was pretty cool."  
"I would have loved to do that," he says, "just travel around. Never got the chance to just drive up and down the country."  
He looks at her for a moment, as if to check. "Or did I?"  
She smiles. "No, I don't think so. But you've seen many places. For work."  
"Like where?," he asks, fascinated.  
"Oh, so many places. There's a story you once told me about going to Kaliningrad. You've been to Mauritius, I think. Puerto Rico. Tuvalu. Someplace in Japan. Really, a lot of places," she says. "Much more than me."  
"Never too late for that," he says, smiling. It's like he can sense every little change in her mood, and it's crazy. She wonders if he's been like this before, or if she's noticing that about him only now. Anyways, she's smiling back. 

*

They spend the night at the foot of a mountain, and Daisy can't deny it looks really beautiful. The landscape is so different from Earth, but still .. relatable, in a way. She wishes this was more of a holiday than a prison break kind of mission. Although being on a sort of road trip with Coulson is really nice, anyways. He's offered to drive several times, picked up a latte for her at their stop for gas, and fanned her with a map for about half an hour when it was the hottest. 

Daisy gets out the tent from her bag, and Coulson looks at her like she's the best, and that's just ... that means a lot.   
"You brought a tent? To space?," he says, his voice all awe.  
"Yeah. Considering how complicated it was to get here, I figured getting back might not be that easy either."  
He nods, like he knows how much she must have done for him in the meantime. "Thank you," he offers, and he sounds like he means for that to cover much more than just the tent.

"You're great at this," she says as they're putting it up. It makes him really happy.   
"Thanks. I think my Mum and I used to go on camping trips sometimes. Like during high school."  
"I bet that was great," Daisy replies. "Your mum sounds like an awesome person."  
"She was," he smiles. "What's your mum like?," he asks, but she sees him bite his lip the next moment.

"Sorry," he tries, just as she's about to reply.  
"No," she says, "... why?"  
"You said you spent a few years in the street, so I thought ... that wasn't the best question to ask you, probably. I'm sorry."  
"It's fine," Daisy says. "My mother was great. It's just that – I guess it took me a while to find her." She swallows. "Too long, actually."

He touches her arm.   
"It's fine," she says. "Actually, you know what? You helped me find her."  
Coulson smiles a little at that.   
"Couldn't have done it without you," Daisy adds shyly, then walks around the tent to strap it down from the other side.

Coulson makes a fire, and she's really grateful. They've picked up some bread and sausages from the gas station, and he's holding those over the flames while she's setting up their beds inside the tent.  
"It's going to be a little uneven," she says as she's stepping out of the tent, "but I couldn't fit the mats into the bag."  
"I'm sure it's great," he says, looking at her like she's a pro at all this. "It's a small miracle you happened to bring two sleeping bags." He's smiling at her, and Daisy does feel a little proud of that. 

"Left or right?," Daisy asks as they're crawling inside for the night.  
"You pick."  
"Left?," she says, suddenly insecure about this whole thing, like she might be taking advantage of Coulson when he's like this, like he wouldn't agree to sharing a tent if not for the current circumstances.  
They can't see each other in the dark, but Coulson's picked up on it again.  
"You okay?," he tries, his voice all kind and caring, and Daisy feels bad for making him worry.  
"Yeah," she says as she wriggles into her sleeping bag. "It's just that – I'm sorry, Coulson. I should have come sooner. I just couldn't figure out your exact location until --"  
"Daisy," he says, and it sounds both so new and so familiar. "You saved me."

She doesn't know what to say to that.  
"I'm sorry I can't help you more," she says, speaking about his memory.  
"You're the only one helping me," he counters.   
Lying in the dark tent next to Coulson, like this, things being as they are, is making her a little emotional. She just wishes things were back to the way they were, she just wishes Coulson didn't have to go through all this.   
"Don't cry," he says, damn him, how did he know. "I'm fine. I mean – it's just a memory thing. That's – that's not impossible to manage. And I do remember some things, so maybe all I need is time?"  
She sighs, wipes her tears away with a quick move. This shouldn't be about her.

"Besides, I know I'm safe with you," he says.  
"But how do you know that?," she asks, because he's actually pretty crazy to trust her.  
"You brought me socks," he offers, and it makes her laugh. She sleeps better that night.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, she successfully sneaks out of the tent pretty early to do some exercises. The air is great, and it suddenly hits her how rarely she finds the time to actually enjoy small things like this.   
She doesn't hear him unzip the tent door, so she's pretty surprised when he's suddenly standing in front of her.

"Hey," he says, and his smile is so warm that she's glad her cheeks are already red from the training.  
"What's that you're doing?," he asks, genuinely curious.  
"Qi Gong," she says. "I learned it from May."  
"May from the Academy?," he asks.  
"Uh ... yeah. She works with us."  
"Did she teach me, too?"  
"No," Daisy smiles. "But I can teach you some exercises if you want to."  
"Yes, please," he says, and he seems really eager, like a little child. In an instant, he's standing by her side, copying her every move.

"Are we doing any training at S.H.I.E.L.D.?," he asks when they are finished.  
"Yeah," she says. "Boxing, swimming, all sorts of stuff."  
"Together?"  
"Um ... rarely, but yeah."  
"What do we do?"  
"Spar, usually? You're pretty good at it."  
"Oh, with the – with the thigh strangle?"  
She chuckles. "You don't do that to me."  
"How nice of me." Oh man, his laugh.

"You wanna have a go at it?," she asks, because he looks pretty excited.  
"Sure," he says. "I hope I remember some moves so you don't defeat me immediately."  
"What makes you think I'd defeat you?"  
"Oh, I bet you usually do?"  
"Well, you're not wrong," she grins. "But you're not bad at all."

They get into position and Daisy's really curious, to be honest. She gives him a countdown from three and then they get to it, punch and duck, back and forth, and she's actually amazed at how good he is at it. It also seems to boost his confidence, he's pretty good at reading her. Still, Daisy manages to do a hark on him, but he jumps up immediately, and it makes her weirdly happy that his sparring game hasn't changed.

Then, he manages to get on top, holds her down by her wrists – not in an uncomfortable way, Daisy feels like he'd let go of her immediately if she'd as much as frown, but she's determined to keep this fight going so he can experience as much of his skills as possible. 

For a moment, she doesn't think, and she vibrates him away, setting him back a few feet. He looks baffled, and she realizes instantly that _he didn't know_.  
"Oh no no no, I'm so sorry, Coulson," she says, "Phil. I'm _so_ sorry. I can explain --"  
He interrupts her. "No, don't be sorry." He doesn't look shocked, just surprised, and Daisy feels so grateful.  
"But yeah, could you explain, though?," he asks, and he looks curious, not to say fascinated. Not reproachful. Well, it's Coulson, after all.  
"I'll explain over breakfast," she says, smiling. "Crackers?"

*

As they're eating crackers combined with peanut butter by the spoon, Daisy starts, very carefully.  
"So ... it's complicated. Just please don't be weirded out."  
He smiles. "Why would I be?"  
"It's pretty fu–, it's a crazy story."  
"Try me," he says, and never have those words held more genuine promise, at least to Daisy.

"Okay. So I'm part alien."  
"Okay."  
"You're not weirded out?"  
"Not yet." They exchange a smile.  
"I got shot and I almost died."  
"Sorry about that."  
"Don't be," she says, "you saved my life."  
"I did?" He looks over-the-top happy about that, and it's adorable.  
"You did!"  
He nods, eager to hear the rest of the story.

"I mean it was pretty serious, so you actually injected me with a drug made from alien blood, Kree blood."  
"That sounds dangerous."  
"Yeah, it was, but it saved my life."  
"That's the important part." It makes Daisy's cheeks feel a little warm.  
"Thanks. Well, anyways, it changed me."  
"Like how?"

"There was this artifact that I touched, and it caused me to go through terrigenesis. That's when – that's how I got my powers."  
"Which seem pretty cool, from the look of it," he smiles. He's unbelievable.  
"Yeah, I like them too, now," she replies, and for a moment, she feels exposed, like he probably saw the pain connected to that statement, but again, he seems to know what not to be asking about. She really appreciates it.  
"So you're vibrating things?"  
"Basically, yeah."

"That's so cool. What do you like most about it?"  
It makes her smile, because that's such a Coulson way to pose questions about things. "Well, I can do some cool stuff with water, I guess," she says. He doesn't say anything yet, like he's waiting for her to list more things.  
"Okay, and once I caught someone falling down." He's still waiting. "Um, I can make glasses sound? Like music?"  
"I'm sure that's beautiful," he says, and she's trying really hard not to blush.


	5. Chapter 5

When they move, it's Coulson who drives, and while Daisy likes driving, he's really good at it, she's really enjoying it. But that's not exactly new.  
"You know, on Earth, you drive a really great car," she says.  
"I do?," he asks, and he looks a little proud, like it would make him really happy to be able to impress her.  
"Absolutely," she says. "You drive a red Corvette. She's called Lola."  
"Lola?" He smiles, like that's something he might faintly remember.  
"Yeah. She can fly."  
"You're shitting me."  
"I'm not! You've flown with me."

He smiles. "Did you like that?," he asks, and while she's sure that's not how he meant it, it almost sounds dirty.  
"It was awesome," she says.  
"Do people know about me having that car?"  
"Yeah, Lola is famous throughout S.H.I.E.L.D., but you're not letting anyone touch her."  
He laughs. "That sounds pretty possessive of me. I really do that?"  
"Um, yeah. With very few exceptions. Mack did some repairs on her."  
"Okay, so I trust him."  
"Mack's great," she says.

"Anyone else?"  
"You've been driving her with May," Daisy adds.  
"Okay? Does that – I mean, does that mean anything?"  
"I'm not sure. I mean, I don't think so?"  
"That would be weird," Coulson says.  
"Why?"  
"We've been really close friends at the Academy," he says. "But not – I mean, just friends. Also, isn't May married?"  
"She was, yeah. To Andrew."  
"Oh no, did she get divorced?"  
"Yes and no," Daisy says. "They got back together, but Andrew was killed. Saving me, actually."  
"Oh no," Coulson says. "I'm sorry."  
"Me too," she replies.

They sit in silence for a while, and Daisy feels that's the right thing to do. After a while, Coulson picks up the conversation again.  
"So that's it? Mack and May?"  
She blushes. "Yeah, apart from me."  
"Oh right, you said we've flown," he smiles. "I'm sure that was nice."  
She _is_ blushing, and she's pretty embarrassed when he looks at her at a crossroad.

"What?," he asks. "You look like there's something else."  
"It's – I mean, yeah, kind of? You once said something really nice to me."  
"That's it?"  
"Uh ... yeah."  
"So I don't do that often?"  
"You do, actually," she admits. "But that time it was like, a really sweet compliment. You said it through Lola, though."  
"Like how?"  
"Like you told me a story about a red Corvette and then compared me to her."  
"That sounds cheesy."  
"It was. But it's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me."  
He meets her eyes through the rearview mirror. "Then I'm glad it was me who said it," he replies, and his smile is so genuine that Daisy has to smile back.

*

They stop next to a river, and it's beautiful.  
"Great choice for a break," she tells him, and he looks flattered. It's cute.  
Again, they've picked up some things on the way, this time from a mall. Coulson got them some Chinese takeout while Daisy went through the supermarket for other supplies. They sit in the grass by the water, and everything feels really peaceful.

"Daisy ... can I ask you something?"  
"Of course."  
"What was that like when I was Director?"  
"Great, why?"  
"I mean ... Fury was great, so I feel like it would be weird to give me the job. Did he – is he dead?"  
She smiles. "Some people think he is, but he's not. He made you Director himself."  
He looks baffled.  
"Why are you surprised?"  
"I'm not – I don't think I could ever be Director."  
"Well, you were, and you did an awesome job," she says without thinking twice, and the smile he gives her is touchingly grateful.

"Who's Director now?," he asks.  
"We don't have one yet," Daisy replies. "You resigned after – after saving everybody because ... I think you felt compromised."  
"Compromised how?"  
"You had to kill someone we'd been trying to get for a really, really long time."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah. I think that weighed pretty heavy on you. But it was very important," she says. "Nobody but you could have done it, at that point."  
"Thanks."

"So yeah, you resigned as Director, and then we had Mace."  
"Mace?"  
"Yeah. He was basically pushed into the position by Talbot. That's an army guy we regularly have to deal with. Great moustache."  
It cracks him up.  
"So what about Mace?"  
"He died. That's also a long story, but HYDRA – that's the Nazis – built a virtual copy of the real world, the Framework. Some of us got trapped there with no memory of the real world, and Mace got killed there."

"Did you get trapped, too?"  
"No, I went in with Jemma – that's a colleague – to try and get us out."  
"Did you get me out?"  
"Yeah."  
"Thanks," he says, smiling, and he's such an idiot, he keeps thanking her for stuff he doesn't remember.  
"Don't thank me, you would have done the same for me," she says, and it almost sounds strict.  
"Definitely," he says, without missing a beat, and she's tempted to smile.


	6. Chapter 6

The next night, they spend at a shady little hotel in a small town. It's not perfect, but Daisy's grateful for the mattresses and the plumbing. It's a double bed, though, because they didn't have anything else available.  
"Which side?," Daisy asks.  
"You pick," Coulson replies immediately, smirking.  
"Left," she says, with a smile this time. "You wanna shower first?"  
"No, I'm fine, you go first," he says. She almost skips into the bathroom.

She returns wearing only the towels (the large one wrapped around her, the small one on her head), tiptoes to her bag.  
"Sorry," she says, a little embarrassed. "Forgot my things."  
"No worries," Coulson says, looking away like a gentleman, but admittedly, it's not really the glimpse he caught of her covered in a towel, it's the idea of Daisy in a towel that he finds somewhat arousing. He does his best to push that thought aside, going through TV channels.

When she returns this time, she's in her pyjamas, and Coulson is almost relieved.  
"How come they play the same stuff they do on Earth?," he asks.  
"I don't know much about this planet," she says, "but it was uninhabited, so this is basically a colony."  
"I see. What about the music?"  
"I don't know," she admits, "but I guess it would also be the same, basically?"  
"Let's try," Coulson says, and he looks adorably excited again.

He almost jumps up from the couch to turn on the old radio in the corner. There's not much that comes in, they don't seem to have many channels here, but there's one that's playing a swing number, and Coulson's face lights up.  
"Come on, we have to dance to that," he says.  
"Phil, I can't –"  
"It's really easy," he says, taking her hand. "You just step over there, then over here, like this. See? You're already a pro."  
It makes her beam at him. 

Coulson swirls her around the small room a few times, and she hasn't felt this great in a while, actually.  
"Thanks," she says, when they're both panting, holding triumphant poses. Their faces are suddenly much too close, though, and as soon as he's returned her bright smile, he says, "I need that shower now," and disappears into the bathroom. Daisy's smile stays, though.

*

When they have sandwiches for dinner in front of the TV, he asks her, "You mentioned that Kree drug earlier. How did I know about that?"  
She sighs. "It's complicated. You were stabbed in the heart by the evil brother of an Asgardian – that's another type of alien – and Fury saved your life using that drug on you."  
"Oh wow."  
"It was all pretty experimental, though, so he put you through some pretty brutal neural treatment that rewrote your memories."  
"Why?"  
"With the side effects of the drug, you probably couldn't have taken it."

"Did I remember that later?," he asks, and Daisy feels the question is pretty significant for him.  
"You did. But you also had some memories of the torture they put you through while rewiring your brain."  
"Was that – was that the Tahiti stuff?"  
"Yeah," Daisy confirms, and while the whole thing is pretty heavy, she's glad he's remembering some more things. "It changed you, though."  
"Better or worse?"  
"Definitely better," she says, briefly squeezing his hand. He wishes she'd leave it there just a little bit longer.

"Why did I inject you with the drug, though? If I knew about all this?"  
"You didn't know," she says. "You'd only heard about how it helps tissue grow back, like it did with your heart, and as soon as you found out about the other stuff, you tried to stop Jemma from injecting me."  
He nods.  
"Sorry," he says. "I wouldn't have done it if I'd known."  
"It was the only way," she says, smiling.

"At least now I know where the weird scars come from," he says, collecting the trash from their dinner. He sounds frustrated.  
"You okay?," Daisy asks, carefully.  
"Yeah, it's just – it's silly. The scars."  
"You don't like them."  
"I guess they're fine but ... Is that why I'm not in a relationship?," he asks, and it's a little heartbreaking. "Sorry, that's childish," he corrects himself.  
"It's not. And I don't think that's why," she says. "I think you just feel like you can't be in a committed relationship when you're so dedicated to your work."

"Have I tried to be, though?," he asks as he's returning to the sofa.  
"Yeah," Daisy says, turns off the TV. "You were once in a pretty long relationship with a cellist, Audrey."  
"What did I do to screw it up?"  
"You didn't really screw it up," Daisy says. "I think it didn't work out because you had so much work to do, and because it was all classified and you couldn't talk to her about it. And then you died, the stuff Fury did to save you was classified."  
"Oh."  
"But it's not you," she's pretty quick to say. "I think it's just really hard to be in a relationship in our line of work."  
"Sorry about that," he says. He reads her so well.  
"It's fine. My last boyfriend was a classist jerk."  
"Then he didn't deserve you," he offers, making her smile.  
"Thanks."

"Is it the arm, though?," he asks.  
"The arm?"  
"My robot arm. The reason why I'm single."  
"No," Daisy says. "You actually were in a brief relationship a few months ago. The arm can't be it."  
"I was?"  
"Yeah, with Rosalind."

"You say that name like you didn't like her."  
"Busted," Daisy says. "I didn't. She was hunting Inhumans. You know, people like me. But things change when people are dead."  
"Were we still together when she died?"  
"I think so," she replies.  
"Was she sick?"  
"She was murdered. By the guy you killed."  
He sighs. "Things really are pretty complicated on Earth, aren't they?"  
"Yeah. But you manage well."  
It earns her at least a half-smile.


	7. Chapter 7

That night, Coulson seems very pensive. He's reading the Shakespeare, so it might be partly that, but Daisy feels like they've touched on some pretty heavy subjects. Maybe it's also too much at once.  
He sighs once during reading, and while Daisy instantly hates herself as she says the words, she asks him, "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah," he replies, putting the book on his nightstand. "It's just – I feel like I'm probably quite the jerk back there and you're just ... nice to me because I don't remember."

"That's bullshit," she says, and he looks at her like he's a little surprised by her determined reaction. "You're a good guy. One of the best, actually."  
It's a little awkward to deliver such things with the necessary amount of seriousness when you're in a double bed with your former boss and now amnesiac colleague, but Daisy thinks she's doing okay. "You're the reason I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson. And you're also the reason I came back."  
He smiles a little shyly, then asks, "You'd left?"

She's looking down at the blanket, a little embarrassed.  
"That's another long story. But, yeah. The guy you killed? That was on another planet, and there, his body was possessed by Hive, that's basically an evil Inhuman. So he kinda came back, but with really gross powers, one of them being infecting minds, and he infected mine, so I was one of the people infected, and so I sort of followed him, he made me do stuff, like I didn't have any control, and I did things that –"  
His hand is suddenly covering hers. "It's okay, Daisy. You don't have to tell me."

She didn't even realize she was crying, there's just tears coming out of her eyes now, one after the other. "I did some pretty horrible things."  
"That wasn't you."  
"It was, though, I –"  
"It wasn't. He was just using your body."  
She wipes her tears away, almost stubbornly. "So anyways, after that whole thing, I had to go."

"But you came back."  
"I did. But it didn't feel good."  
"Why? I'm sure I was happy you were back."  
"You were, that's true," she smiles briefly, "you'd been looking for me for months, with Mack. Not everyone was happy, though. They were disappointed."  
"That's stupid. You needed that time. _Everyone_ would have needed that time."  
"Thanks," she says, sniffing. "Sorry. Didn't mean to go all crybaby on you."  
"That's fine," he says. "Not that I like seeing you cry, but, anytime."  
She briefly squeezes his hand, then turns away from him, turning off her nightstand lamp. "Good night, Phil," she says, and she realizes that's the first time she's saying that to him that using his first name. It feels good.

* 

Not long after, Coulson turns off his own lamp, because of course he would. She smiles at that, hears him wiggle around a little to find a good position, then let out a comfortable sigh. She's never paid attention to these things, but then again, they've never actually shared a bed.  
She listens to his breath for a while, but as it doesn't get any deeper, she whispers, "Coulson?"  
"Yeah?," he whispers back immediately, as if everything she could possibly say was very important.  
"I'm glad I found you."  
"Same," he whispers. "Sorry I don't remember you from before."  
"That's okay, seriously," she says. She doesn't say _you will_ , because that would be false optimism, but who knows.   
"Thanks."

After a while, he turns around into her direction, facing her back.  
"Daisy?"  
"Yeah?" They're still whispering.  
"Do I normally take the arm off?," he says.  
"I'm not sure," she replies. "You never take it off in front of me. But I guess you normally do, at night? Why?"  
"It's like my arm hurts. Like the robot part hurts." His voices is strained.  
"Then maybe you should take it off?" She sounds a little worried.  
"I don't know how," he whispers. She immediately turns back around to him. 

"Do you – do you want me to help?," she offers, in a very shy voice.  
"If you're not grossed out?"  
"No, why would I be grossed out?"  
"I don't know, because you're detaching a limb? Because of the stump that's left?"  
"That's not gross," she says, and he's taken aback by how kind her voice is. "Give me your arm."  
He extends it in the dark, and she feels for it, very carefully.

"Okay, so I think there's a button up here," she says, "and then you need to ... turn it, like this, I think –"   
With a click, the robot limb comes off, and Coulson lets out a sigh. Daisy puts it onto her nightstand.  
"Thank you," he says, like she's done him an absurdly huge favour.  
"You're welcome," she replies. The atmosphere feels weirdly heavy, like Coulson's feeling guilty, maybe, so she says, "Thanks for trusting me with it."  
"Thank you."

After a few minutes, he asks, "Do you know what I'm supposed to do about the phantom pain?"  
"There's some medication you used to take," Daisy says, "but I've read that sometimes a massage helps?"  
"Are you sure?," he says, and she can tell he's in pain, she can feel him tremble as he's trying to massage the stump with the other hand.  
"Let me," she says, reaching over in the dark, carefully placing his hand back onto the mattress. 

She starts massaging, a little scared of hurting him, but the metal arm's socket is probably blocking the damaged nerves, so she hopes massaging his arm is going to be okay.  
"Have you done this before?," he asks, his voice still quivering.  
"No," she admits. "Is it okay?"  
"It's – yes. It's just – it's like I would need you to touch the inside of my arm? Like it hurts deeper down somewhere?"  
She swallows. "Let me try something." 

He can hear her sit up, then suddenly, she's vibrating his arm, very softly.   
"Is this okay?," she asks. He doesn't say anything, but she hears him nod. She goes on for a while, changing the frequence every now and then, and she can feel Coulson slowly getting calmer. She continues for a bit after his breath has gotten even.   
"Okay?," she whispers.  
"Yes," he whispers back. "Thank you," he says, and it sounds like he's just been relieved of a very heavy weight.

She doesn't know why, but she feels for his forehead. It's sweaty, and she pulls down her sleeve to dab it very carefully. As she's pulling her hand back, he catches it, briefly touches it to his lips, then releases her.


	8. Chapter 8

She's glad she's up so early the next morning, because something is off. Something is off, and she thinks it's because somebody is catching up with them. In a rush, she collects everything (or at least, the most important things), throws them into the bag, then wakes Coulson. She feels really bad about having to do that, since he's been sleeping so deeply.   
"Phil, I'm so sorry, but we need to get out immediately." She goes to hand him the limb, then remembers it was her who detached it, so he probably wouldn't really know how to reattach it. In a moment, it's done, and not a moment too soon, because there's a knock on the door. 

Barefoot, Coulson jumps out of the bed, and Daisy is gesturing for the bathroom window. They both climb out onto the roof, ducking a little so they won't be seen from below. They're running to the other side of the building as they hear several people kick down the door and yell around inside. That's when three or four men surface on the roof, from two directions, and there's nowhere for them to go.

"Hold the bag," she orders, "and hold on to me." He looks surprised, but follows her instructions immediately, so she can vibrate them up into the air, like they are jumping, and get them onto the roof of a building across the street.  
"Run," she says, and he's right behind her as they make their way to the other end. Daisy extends her arms and Coulson holds on to her immediately, and they jump to another building.

"We need to get onto something that moves," she yells as they're running across the roof.  
"Train station," he yells, because those are tracks over there, and since this is in the middle of the town, the station can't be far away.  
Luckily, just as they reach the edge, a train passes by, apparently headed out, and Daisy vibrates them onto the top. The smile he shoots her as soon as it's clear that they'll get away for now is priceless.

As soon as the train has left the centre and they won't be seen by anyone, they climb down the back of the train to get inside.  
"We need to infiltrate," Coulson yells through the noise, and Daisy looks pleasantly surprised.  
"Okay," she yells back. "We're going to need two uniforms."

They're lucky they started at the back of the train, since the last wagon is empty. As soon as the conductor shows up, Daisy nods at Coulson behind the seats, and he gets up and jumps at the guy, bouncing off a seat, and taking him down using his thighs. He can hear Daisy chuckle as soon as the guy is unconscious. "That's what I meant," she giggles.

He high-fives her, then they pull the guy back to the end of the wagon to hide him behind a bicycle compartment. Coulson quickly exchanges his clothes for the conductor's, and if they weren't so pressed for time, Daisy would probably find the time to admire him, even if it's only from behind and through a shirt. "Okay," he says, and she feels bad for not having looked away when he turns back around. There is the idea of a smirk around his lips, though, so maybe he doesn't mind that much. "You should be okay without a ticket for a little bit," he says, obviously in his element doing espionage moves. "Let's find the dining wagon, maybe you could get another uniform from there."

Just to be sure, Daisy attaches the poor conductor to the wall with one of the bicycle belts, leaves him at least the pants Coulson wearing, stuffs the rest into her bag. To be safe, Coulson asks to see a few train tickets on the way, punches holes in them, smiles at people. It's incredible how nice he is to people even on the run, Daisy thinks, but he's always been like that.  
When they arrive at the dining wagon, it's pretty full, and Coulson throws Daisy a worried look, but she manages to sneak into the storage part in the back of the wagon, and after a moment, emerges from there fully clad in a waiter's uniform. Coulson smiles at her like he's a little in love.

That way, they make through the next hour until the next stop, getting off the train as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Obviously, they're keeping their eyes open for any potential followers, but it looks like they're fine for now. Also, they probably wouldn't get suspected wearing these uniforms, either.

*

Daisy checks them into an elegant hotel this time, and Coulson's amazed by the beautiful suite she got them.  
"How did you do it?," he asks. "With all the money?"  
"I'm not proud of it, but I stole some jerk's credit card. He grabbed my ass as I was on the bus to catch you at the bar."  
"Oh. Sorry," he says, but he's definitely amazed by her skills. 

"I've never been to such a hotel room," he adds after a moment, looking around fascinatedly.  
"Seriously?," she says.   
"Well, no, I've been to some suites, but I've never stayed at one."  
He turns around to smile at her. "It's amazing. Thank you."  
Daisy feels really pleased to be able to do something nice for him.   
"I wanted us to have a nice evening," she says. "Being on the run all the time is no fun."  
"I thought it was really nice up to now, too," he says, and she smiles because she knows he means it.

"Let's make the most of this and have fancy dinner?," she suggests.  
"Sure," he agrees, obviously excited. "What to wear, though?"  
"I think this place is fancy enough for us to be able to rent some fancy clothes," she says.  
"How do you know all this?," he says, seriously impressed.  
"Oh, I just looked at this folder," she smirks, holding it up. "Shall we have some champagne until then, darling?," she asks, in a fake conceited voice, and it cracks him up.


	9. Chapter 9

The phone call Daisy makes to reception is enough to call four employees to the suite, pushing different racks of elegant clothing around the room, buzzing around Coulson and her. In the end, he ends up getting his hair cut and stubble shaved, and he looks very pleased when they exchange a brief look from inbetween piles of clothes. When, finally, Daisy emerges from the busy hands of the helpful employees, Coulson's jaw drops a little, because she's wearing and incredible long red dress with quite a low neckline. Seeing the look on his face makes her feel accomplished, and it's weird, because she's never before tried to impress Coulson like this.

He really doesn't look bad himself, either, the suit looks like a masterpiece on him, she has to say.  
"Great choice," she says, as soon as the employees are gone.  
He blushes. "Thank you. You look beautiful," he says, all in one breath, and she beams at him.  
"Shall we go?," she asks, and he immediately offers her his arm. That's a first for Daisy, and she's trying to hide how absurdly happy that makes her.

*

The dinner, of course, is wonderful. Daisy's pretty sure she's never had such amazing food, everything tastes like there was no other way food should taste. When they're done, Coulson orders them a bottle of champagne, and that, too, is the kind Daisy only knows from movies and maybe Stark parties. She's a little careful with it so she doesn't get drunk, even though Coulson would probably be the only person she'd be relatively fine being drunk in front of, but they haven't know each other for such a long time yet, not on this planet, so she's extra careful.

After a while, there's a small ensemble playing some slow-dance songs, and when Coulson offers her his hand for a dance, he's so charming about it that she can't refuse. And he's a great dancer, he's manoeuvering them across the dancefloor as if it was his profession, and Daisy feels oddly proud to be the one dancing with him. After a few numbers, they return to their table to finish their champagne, and Coulson seems to exhilarated, he keeps talking about dancing and music and how this is such a nice evening, and she thinks he's probably having a little too much champagne, but he's so adorable rambling on about everything. They go back to the dancefloor for a few more dances, and even though they only skip a dance once or twice for a little something at the bar, Daisy's got to admit she's fine with it, because dancing with Coulson makes her feel strangely appreciated. The way he holds her hand, the way he carefully moves her left and right through the crowd, it makes her feel like he's showing her such an enormous amount of respect, like she's something really precious.

When the band finishes and the musicians are packing up their instruments, they go to the bar for one last drink. The hall has almost cleared out, with the exception of a few last guests. Coulson's a little tipsy, but Daisy is enjoying this evening so much, it simply doesn't matter. He engages her in a conversation about old movies, and she's actually delighted at how he remembers a few favourites, especially because they share their love for one or two of them. When it's time to go, Daisy feels like they could have continued for hours. Coulson leads her to the elevator, and she feels so absurdly safe being fancy like this with him, it's ridiculous.

"Thank you," is the first thing she says when they are back in the suite. He looks so incredibly happy, she feels like hugging him, so that's what she does, she hugs him right there by the wardrobe. He's obviously surprised, but he's leaning into her hug, and her heart's beating in her throat. It's almost a pity they have their own rooms in the suite, because Daisy thinks she would enjoy some more talking, but on the other hand, it's almost four in the morning. 

They say good-night a little awkwardly, and each go to their room. Daisy undresses in a moment, then carefully lays out the dress on a chair, looking at it for a bit. It's undoubtedly the most beautiful piece of clothing she's ever worn. Suddenly, there's a knock and the door, and Daisy immediately feels guilty, turns away from the dress.  
"Come in," she says, expecting it to be room service or something at first, then realizes it can only be Coulson.  
It is Coulson, he's taken off his suit jacket and is apparently struggling with the tie. She tries not to smile.  
"I'm sorry," he says. "I'm a little tipsy and I can't get this thing off."  
"Come here," she says, like he's being cute. He _is_ cute.

In a moment, she loosens the knot for him, tugs at it a bit, making him stumble towards her a little. He catches himself by holding on to her shoulders, and it's a little awkward because suddenly, they're too close.  
"Thanks," he says, looking into her eyes, and she returns his gaze for a moment, neither of them really able to break eye contact. For a moment, she thinks he really looks like all he wants to do is kiss her, but he doesn't, he manages to turn around and walk back to his room, closing her door behind himself very carefully. She smiles at the closed door.


	10. Chapter 10

She wakes to the faint sound of cutlery touching glass, and there's Coulson, rolling a small table towards her, packed with all kinds of fancy breakfast. Daisy sits up immediately, tries to ruffle her hair into some kind of order.  
"That's a nice way to wake up," she says. "Breakfast in bed."  
He smiles, obviously pleased at her reaction. "I hope you like it."  
"Phil," she says, "just look at it. It's a dream breakfast." It's a beautiful table with assorted _everything_ on it. And flowers.

"Have you had anything?," she asks as she pulls the table closer. He shakes his head, a little shy, and she pulls up her legs, gestures for him to sit on the bed. They eat in silence for a bit, occasionally smiling at each other while enjoying the food, Coulson pouring them orange juice and champagne every now and then. That's another first for Daisy, breakfast with champagne, and it's wonderful.  
"I've never had champagne at breakfast," she says, almost a little embarrassed.  
"Do you like it?," he asks, smiling, and she nods enthusiastically. He pours her a little more.

When they are finished, Daisy pushes the table away a little, holding on only to her champagne glass, and leans back comfortably.  
"This was definitely the most awesome breakfast I've ever had," she says.   
He smiles, and she returns it gladly. She feels so happy, she doesn't break eye contact as she empties her glass, and as she's sitting back up, Coulson can feel his heart beating in his throat. He wishes he had the courage to kiss her, but he doesn't, he's only known her for a few days, and kissing her would mean making a huge assumption, too huge for this to be up to him to decide.

Then, the moment is over, and Daisy suggests they pack up their things and move, especially since with all these expenses, they'll have to change both location and credit card soon before some version of the authorities find them. 

They take a bus and travel to its terminus, and Daisy hot-wires another car there. She gets into the driver's seat first, and for maybe the first hour, they drive in silence.  
"Are you okay?," Daisy asks at one point, lightly, but determinedly.  
"Yeah," he says, "sorry. I'm a bit tired." That's true, of course, but Daisy feels like his thoughts are getting heavy again, so she doesn't keep asking.

They make their first stop at another mall, and Daisy goes to buy some food and some clothes while Coulson takes a nap in the car. When she gets back, she opens all the windows and doors, it's gotten pretty hot.   
Coulson wakes up to Daisy moving a cup of takeaway coffee left and right in front of his nose, and it makes him laugh.  
"Oh God, coffee, I love you," he says, and she's not entirely sure who that was aimed at, the cup or her, but she'll take it anyways.

She takes a sip from her own. "Their coffee is actually pretty nice," she says. "Wouldn't have expected it."  
"It's great," he says, and that means something, because Coulson is a bit of a coffee snob, and Daisy's a little proud of herself.  
"Do you want me to drive?," he asks.  
"If that's okay?," she says. "I'm _sooo_ hot right now."  
"Sure thing," he answers, and they drive off towards the mountains.

*

It's a tent night, again, and they are roasting marshmallows on sticks.  
"I haven't done this in _ages_ ," she says.  
"Me neither, I think. The last time I made marshmallows was probably at the Academy," Coulson says.

"Daisy?," he asks after a while. "Can I ask you something ... personal?"  
"Mhm."  
"Why are you – why are you single?"  
"Wow," she says, laughing. "Pretty personal."  
"Sorry," he says immediately. "I didn't mean to –"  
"No, it's okay," she says. "You knew before, too. Well, kind of." She hugs her knees. 

"I was in a crappy relationship last year," she says.   
"The classist jerk?"  
She chuckles. "Yeah. But it didn't really work swimmingly before that, either."  
"Sorry."  
"That's okay. I'm used to it. I've had a few nice relationships, I guess, but none of them really lasted that long. Except for Miles, maybe."  
"Miles?"  
"A hacker. Oh, I haven't told you. I used to be a hacker."  
"That's so cool," he says, and it sounds entirely genuine. She smiles.  
"Thank you. I was really good at it. That's what I first did when I joined S.H.I.E.L.D.," she says.

"How come you joined S.H.I.E.L.D., anyways?"  
"You kidnapped me from my van," she says, a twinkle in her eye.  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah. But then you went out of your way so I could do some actual work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and recruited me. Just like that."  
"Well, I'm sure you did awesome work," he offers.  
"Thanks," she says, and because it feels awkward, she adds, "you too." He looks a little proud.

When they climb into the tent, she can hear Coulson go for the right sleeping bag immediately, and it makes her smile.  
"Coulson?," she asks.  
"Yeah?"  
"If there was one thing you could remember right now, what would it be?"  
It takes him a moment to reply.  
"I don't know. I remember a bunch of stuff from my childhood and the Academy, so I think that part is fine. And obviously, the part after I got hit over the head up here is fine. So I guess I'd love to remember the whole part from when I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Fair enough," she says.  
"Why? Are there any moments you would want me to remember?"  
"Well ... I mean there were some that were pretty great."  
"Like what?"  
"There are many, but – Like there was this one time that we were fighting against the time-space continuum."  
"That sounds wild. What did we do?"  
"Long story, again, but for that, we had to train the team to do certain things within a certain timeframe, and there was just that moment where you and I stood there looking at the stopwatch, then at each other, pretty satisfied with the result."  
"Sounds like a good moment to remember." The smile's in his voice.  
"Yeah."

He seems to think about it a little, then he says, "Are we like, the leaders of the team?"  
"You are, officially. But you let me do a lot of stuff."  
"Well, you seem like a born leader."  
"Thank you," she says, "you're making me blush."  
"Seriously though," he adds, "I mean look at you getting me out of this mess. I can only imagine how you direct a team. I'm sure you're great at it."  
"I think you might be biased," she says, audibly happy. "You once said you thought I should be Director."  
"I did?"  
"Yeah. You're crazy."  
"I'm right."  
"... Thanks." He can hear she's still smiling.


	11. Chapter 11

It gets pretty cold during the night, and Daisy is trying to move a little closer to Coulson without waking him up (and without hugging him).  
"Are you cold?," he whispers, and she almost has a heart attack.  
"I thought you were asleep!," she whispers back. He chuckles.  
"Sorry," he says. "Didn't mean to startle you. _Are_ you cold, though?"  
"Yeah. Very."  
"Come here," he says, and she can hear him attach the metal arm before he turns around. 

"You didn't have to do that," she says.  
He's not sure what to say to that. "Thank you," he starts. "But I think it would make the hug better. Do you – do you want a hug?"  
"Yes, please," she says, admittedly relieved, because it's really cold. She wriggles around in her sleeping bag, and Coulson puts his arm around her, so they're basically spooning. She really hopes he can't hear her heart beat like crazy.  
"Thank you. This is nice," she says.  
"Likewise," he replies, and it doesn't take them long to fall asleep after that.

It's still pretty cold at dawn, and Daisy automatically moves closer to Coulson, inadvertently waking him up. The first thing he does is remove his arm and turn onto his back, and it worries Daisy.  
"Sorry," she says.  
"No, no, I'm sorry," he says.  
"Why, though?"  
"Oh, I mean – I guess the metal arm must be pretty cold?" He sounds shy.  
"Don't be silly," she says, trying to sound particularly nice even though she's still pretty tired, because this seems so important.  
"If you say so?," he says, turns back towards her as soon as she nods.

They stay like that for a while, not really sleeping but not really ready to be awake yet, until Daisy says, "Can I turn around?"  
"Uh ... sure?," Coulson replies, sounding not that sure about it. "I have morning breath, though. I'll turn around, too."  
She was going to say something, but he's already turned around, so she just moves to hug his back. "Is that okay?," she asks as she puts her arm around him. He nods.

"Phil?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks for hugging me during the night."  
"You're welcome," he says, and it's mixture between sounding a little embarrassed and very happy. He's adorable. As is his hair in the morning, as far as she can tell from here.  
"Daisy?"  
"Mhm?"  
"Have we done this before?"  
"You mean, hugged?"  
He nods.  
"Kinda? I mean we don't really hug. But we've hugged before, yeah."  
"Have we hugged in bed?," he asks.  
"We've never really shared the same bed," she replies.

"Would you have shared a bed with me if there was another option?," he asks, and he sounds a little nervous about it.  
"I – I don't know. We've never done it, but there was always another option. I think you wouldn't have?" She swallows. "And I probably wouldn't have dared to?"  
"Wouldn't have _dared_ to?" He sounds almost shocked.  
"No, not like that. It's just – I mean you were my boss. Are my boss, technically."  
"Oh. Right."

"I mean I would have been fine with it?," she offers after a while. "Would you have been fine with it?"  
"I don't know," he says. She doesn't say anything, to be safe. "I mean, not like – I mean I would have wanted to make sure you would have been fine with it?," he corrects himself.  
She really thinks about it for a moment. "I think I would have," she concludes, and while he doesn't say anything, she can feel his shoulders relax. 

*

"I'm driving," Daisy says when they've stored the tent in the car again, and she seems to be in a really good mood, pretty infectiously so. "Extraterrestrial radio?," she suggests, and minutes later, they're both moving to some sort of rock music while driving.

"What's the plan?," Coulson asks when they next stop for food.   
"The plan is burritos," Daisy deadpans, hungry.   
When they're finished, Coulson tries again. "What are we going to do next?"  
"Well, basically we're waiting," she says. "I've sort of organized a way back to Earth, but it's only the day after tomorrow. I couldn't arrange it earlier. Also, we'll be in a cargo hold."  
"Smugglers?," Coulson asks.  
"Yeah. There's no comfortable way."  
"Thanks," he says, because she must have gone out of her way to organize not one, but two trips. She smiles a little.

Before they leave, Daisy picks the most obnoxious customer (a guy pushing around his wife) and pickpockets him for his credit cards. Coulson smirks, and it feels oddly nice to know he approves of her choice. At the gas station, they stop for supplies again, and Daisy picks up a bottle of some sort of local whiskey.  
"Figured we should be celebrating," she says, and it doesn't sound that celebratory.  
"Celebrate what?," he asks, sensing there's something up.  
"This? This road trip?," she suggests, trying to smile convincingly. "I mean it's not exactly a holiday, but I don't think we've ever spent that much time together in a row," she says. "Not just the two of us anyways."  
"Sure," he agrees, and she nods, like she needs to convince herself, too.


	12. Chapter 12

They're at a motel again, in a room with a double bed, but Coulson's got a feeling like Daisy would probably have gotten two single beds if there had been such a room available.  
"Left?," he asks, and she just nods. She's been looking sad ever since lunch, and he wonders if he's done anything wrong.  
"Did I do anything?," he asks, genuinely worried.  
"No, I'm just – you know, somehow I'm sad this is going to be over. I mean, obviously I'm glad we're not going to have to run all the time, I mean we'll have to be undercover, but it's not going to be the same, and I'm obviously glad you'll be getting amnesia treatment, but I mean, this was so nice, and –"  
"Me too," he says. Their eyes meet, and Daisy looks like she might want to cry, but instead, she goes to open the bottle, pours them the two glasses from the bathroom.  
"Let's celebrate while we can, then," she suggests.

*

They've turned on the radio, and it turns out to be a pretty nice evening, in the end. Daisy's telling him some S.H.I.E.L.D. stories, Coulson tells her some jokes, and they dance a little every now and then. It's easy to get drunk with Daisy; it's easy because she looks so beautiful, because she looks like this is really important to her, and because sometimes, she looks at him like this is the best thing about everything.

Undeniably, there is a moment – there are several moments – when Coulson thinks about kissing her, and when he thinks that maybe Daisy is also thinking about kissing him, and they're ridiculously close, but it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen because he doesn't dare to do it, he doesn't trust himself for it to be the right thing to do, and Daisy looks like she sees it similarly, leaning in for a moment, and sitting very upright the next. At least it makes them smile at each other a ridiculous amount, for whatever reason.

There's another one of those moments when they're finally getting up from the floor to go to bed, pulling each other up, and Daisy's suddenly flying into his arms. It makes her giggle, and it feels great to join her, especially when she's hugging him. "Sorry," she says, and her voice sounds heavy, but happy.  
"S'fine," he offers, turning the accidental hug into an actual hug, and they hug for too long a time. Coulson knows it's too long because things always take much longer when you're drunk, and it already _feels_ long, so he can only imagine how long it really was.

When they pull apart, they don't pull apart enough, and balance is a thing that's not working out that great at the moment, so they're still too close, Daisy's face and her smile and her lips are too close, and he feels so tempted, his heart is somewhere it doesn't belong and keeps pounding there, and Daisy's blushing a little, or maybe her cheeks are just a little flushed from drinking, but anyways her cheeks are beautiful, and they're too close. Daisy looks into his eyes for a moment, and it's hard to focus, because it's hard to focus when you're drunk, but Daisy's eyes are so beautiful, it's not really that hard, and Coulson looks back.

Then, suddenly, it's over, and Daisy chimes something about going to the bathroom, and she goes to the bathroom. Coulson finds the bed, he's pretty sure it's moved in the meantime, but he finds it, and he sits on it very determinedly, like it probably won't move again if he sits on it. It's a great idea, actually, because he's pretty sure the room is spinning like crazy, but the bed's not, so that's a triumph, and he laughs a little at that. He's glad he's already taken off his shoes, because taking off his shirt is difficult enough with all the buttons, he can only imagine how he would do with shoe ties, because buttons can't get into knots, at least.

When Daisy returns from the bathroom, flying through the room from left to right and maybe also from right to left, what does he know, he's already under the covers, because that's what you do when you sleep, you manage to get your whole body under the covers, and it was hard enough, but he did manage. Daisy slips into bed behind him, and it sounds like she's not as good as he is at managing to get her whole body under the covers, but she sounds a little accomplished when she's done, so she's probably managed to get most of her body under the covers. She's turning towards him now, and he wonders if she's going to hug him, because that would feel great, because that's basically what he's dreaming of right now, a hug would feel great before falling asleep.

She does hug him, and it makes him smile, and he's about to say something, but his words take too long to reach his mouth, so she speaks first.  
"Y'not wearin' a shirt," she says, because that's new, Coulson is always wearing something.  
"Took it off," he says, "for sleepin'."  
"Good idea," she replies, "but mine's – mine's too many buttons."  
"Shou'I help?"  
"Yeah!" She sounds pretty happy about that, so he turns around and starts unbuttoning her shirt from below while she's unbuttoning it from above. It takes a while, so he imagines it would take a so much longer while if she would be doing it alone. He needs to focus on it so much, he doesn't notice Daisy is trying to look at his face while she's unbuttoning the shirt, and when their hands meet in the middle, he's surprised that she's looking at his face.

"Thanks," she says, and he's not sure, because he's not sure he can tell when he's this drunk (he's really drunk, he hasn't been this drunk in a long time), but it sounds so happy that he thinks she's maybe happy about something else too.  
"Anytime," he says, and then he bites his lip, because it feels like something he probably wouldn't have said without being drunk, but it's fine, because she's still smiling, and her smile is so beautiful that it's really hard to focus again, it's hard to focus and his eyes also move down a little, to where her shirt is open, and she's wearing a black bra, a really pretty one, and Coulson thinks he probably shouldn't be looking at it, but his eyes take a really long time to move back up even though he wants them to.

"Coul – Couls – Phil?"  
It makes him really happy she's talking to him. "Yeah?," he says, and his eyes have managed to move to her eyes again, and her eyes are still so beautiful, how does she do it anyways, her eyes are always beautiful.  
"Wanna kiss you," she says, "can I kiss you?"  
He nods, because he doesn't trust his mouth to say the words he wants it to say, not in time, at least, so the nod is a good idea. The nod is a great idea because Daisy moves closer, her lips move closer, and Coulson's suddenly not sure sitting on the bed helped, because he's pretty sure it's spinning around, and it's definitely spinning around more now that Daisy is so close.

Then she kisses him, and it's a very long kiss, and he's actually pretty happy he's drunk, honestly, because that means the kiss is even longer than he thinks it is, it doesn't really end because there's the next one, and the next one, and basically it's just one very very very very very long kiss. Daisy's lips are very soft, and she tastes like she doesn't mind that he's drunk, she probably tastes similar to him, and that's nice, because she tastes so nice, so he probably tastes nice too. Daisy's kissing him like he tastes nice.

He's not sure where his hands are, but Daisy's hands are on his back, and they are on his butt, and they are also at the back of his neck, and he's not sure how she does it, but then again, he's not sure how Daisy does anything, and Daisy always does so many things, and she's always great at it. She's great at this. They are moving even closer, which surprises him, because he wouldn't have thought they could be moving closer, and Daisy is doing this thing with her hips that makes him do the same thing with his hips, and it's not really a rhythm, but they're trying, and they're probably doing okay, they're just drunk so they're slow, but they're both moving their hips, so that's probably right. 

Coulson doesn't stop, and Daisy doesn't stop, and they're still kissing, and Coulson finds his hands sometimes, because sometimes, they're in Daisy's hair, and on her back, and once they are on her hips, and there's Daisy's butt which is a really perfect butt, and he would tell her if they weren't kissing, but he's slow, so he's probably saving that for later. Sometimes one of his hands – he's not sure which – also finds Daisy's boobs, and that's, it's just something else, he's not sure he's got the words for it, but he wishes they could move even closer, which isn't really possible because they are doing the hip thing, and there are too many hips, and also too many knees, and some elbows, so he's maybe saving that for later, too.

Daisy kisses kisses kisses kisses kisses him, and he kisses back, and he kisses back, and there are the hips, and Coulson's not sure but the bed is spinning even faster, or maybe they're just getting slower, because they're probably getting more drunk, so they're slower, but they don't stop. Daisy kisses him sometimes, and sometimes he kisses back, and everything is spinning, but things are spinning really slowly too, so it's fine, every now and then she kisses him, and maybe he kissed her back, he's not sure, but it's nice.


	13. Chapter 13

Waking up feels as expected, it's all there, the headache, everything. Daisy wants to turn over when she realizes Coulson's leg is across her, and so is his left arm. Last night hits her all of a sudden – they basically made out until they fell asleep, and that's a first, too, but she's not sure how she feels about it. She tries not to move in the slightest so as not to startle him, but of course, that's when her nose gets itchy and her leg falls asleep, it's always like that. Very carefully, she attempts to adjust her position without moving too much, but it doesn't really work, because Coulson starts moving.

She's prepared for him to be shocked or grumpy or something, but the first thing he does when he opens his eyes is smile at her, even though his headache must be pretty awful, too, and she's surprised.  
"Hey," he says, all coarse morning voice, and Daisy can't help it, she finds it adorable, and also sexy.  
"Hey, Phil," she tries. "Good morning."  
He moves a little, then realizes. "I'm sorry," he laughs, "I'm burying you." He turns a little so he can look at her from the side, and she mirrors him.

A beat passes where they just look into each other's eyes, then she has to say it.   
"I'm scared."  
He nods. "Me too."  
"I feel like this is all wrong, like we shouldn't – like I shouldn't kiss you when you don't remember. It's not fair, I know so much more about you. And I'm -" she swallows, "I'm not sure you would want this if you'd remember."  
She prepares herself for him to agree, doesn't really dare to look at him.

"Why wouldn't I want it?," he asks, and his voice is all soft, and right now, she's not sure if she should be hating him for it.  
"I'm – I did some things," she says.   
"What about me?," he asks in return. "Haven't I done some _things_? I'm sure I have. I mean, something got me here, right?"  
She chuckles. "You got here because you did the right thing," she says.  
"I'm sure you did the right thing, too."

She's still too scared to smile at him, but she buries her face in his shoulder instead, and he puts his arm around her. They stay like this for a little while.  
"I wish I remembered," he says.  
She doesn't reply, pulls him a little bit closer instead.  
"Do you think we would ever have ... kissed, back there?," he asks her, because if one of them knows, she does.  
She sighs. "No. Probably not."  
"Why?"  
"You're not into me. I think."

"I don't buy it," he says, and she can hear the smirk in his voice. "But I'm probably too scared to say anything?," he suggests. "I mean, I think we can all agree that you're waaaaay out of my league, Daisy."  
"Me?" She sounds genuinely shocked.  
He pulls back a little so he can look at her. "Obviously?," he retorts. "I mean, look at me. Little middle-aged Agent Coulson with the receding hairline and awkward fighting moves? Who's into cooking and movie trivia, apparently?"   
She chuckles. "You're cute."  
"Versus you, the stunningly beautiful superhero team leader?," he continues. "Don't think so."

She lightly swats him on the shoulder. "Don't do that."  
"What?" He's in his element. "Tell you the truth?," he says. He's so charming, it's rude.  
"Flatter me," she corrects him. "To get me to kiss you. Probably."  
"Oh, I had no hopes of that," he fake-sulks. "Not with my morning breath."  
"Same," she replies as she moves closer, and it doesn't sound as light anymore, but it probably doesn't matter because she kisses him. It's intense, and Coulson holds his breath as her hands move down to his pants and into them. 

*

He's glad he's not wearing a shirt, because Daisy kisses him sort of _everywhere_ , and he's doing his best to do the same, trying to get rid of her unbuttoned shirt in the process. Suddenly, everything's necessary and urgent, and he's not always sure who's on top, but they both end up naked, and he's lost count of the places where Daisy's been leaving him lovebites, but he doesn't mind. Daisy does things with her tongue, and with her hands, that he's sure he hasn't experienced with anyone, memory loss or not. 

She's driving him crazy, in all the best ways, but there's only so much he can take, so he makes them roll over, taking control. He looks at her to check, but she looks pleased, to say the least.   
"Can we –," he starts, to make sure, but she nods, then guides him in, and what follows is basically a mess of limbs and hungry kisses and moans, and he won't ever try to describe it, but there's an incredibly smile on Daisy's face afterwards, when they're both panting, sinking into an awkward, sweaty, wonderful hug. They stay like that for a bit, until Daisy starts moving to indicate that they need to get going again, and he wishes they were far away, he wishes they were on a lonely island with zero chances of anyone coming to look for them.

"Look at the sheets," she chuckles when she stands up to get her towel.  
"Not much of a loss," he deadpans, and it makes her cry with laughter, and he just wishes he could hold on to that sound forever. He's going to try.


	14. Chapter 14

Coulson's driving, while Daisy's helping him navigate to the arranged meeting point for the transport, her feet up, the map on her knees. He keeps taking her left hand, and she keeps squeezing it, and he doesn't think he's ever been happier. They exchange little looks every now and then, and he hopes he's reading the same thing in her eyes that he's trying to exude, because he feels like his chest could burst anytime, like this would all be too much if he didn't know she shared it in some way.

"I wish we didn't have to go back," Coulson says.  
"Me too," she says, immediately.  
"Things are going to change, right?," he asks.  
"I'm not – yeah. They are definitely going to change." She sounds sad.  
"Are we – What about us?," he asks, wishing he could look at her right now, but there are too many bends ahead.  
"I mean – I guess you're going to go back to your job? In case you won't get persecuted for escaping. Maybe they've realized in the meantime that they've made a mistake."

"You mean I'm probably going to get arrested?"  
"I'll see to it that you don't," she says, and she suddenly sounds angry, but not at him.  
"Things aren't going to well back there, are they?"  
"No." Her voice is small. He waits a moment, and she goes on. "This government is a joke. Mace was a puppet, but he was good for keeping S.H.I.E.L.D. politics in line. Now it's just – everybody's doing what they feel like doing, and the army is meddling with everything."  
"They always are."  
"Yeah. Not so much when you were Director."  
"Thanks?"  
"You're welcome."

"But if everything goes well and I won't get persecuted ... what happens?"  
She shrugs. "I don't know. You're probably going to become Interim Director or something like that. I will need to deal with the Sokovia Accords, registering myself and other Inhumans, fighting for Inhuman Rights."  
"You're saying ... this –," he's gesturing between them, "is going to be over?"  
Her voice trembles a little. "Yeah." It sounds like she knows something he doesn't, it sounds like she wouldn't be able to continue this with him back on Earth.  
"You'd want to end this?," he asks, almost whispering.  
"Yes – I mean, no? Wouldn't you?"  
He takes a deep breath, tries to get this out as determinedly as possible. "No."

He thinks he sees her take a double take from the corner of his eyes.  
"You _wouldn't_ want to end it?," she asks.  
"I wouldn't," he says.  
"But with work regulations –"  
"No."  
"But when you find out about my –"  
"No."  
"What about your memory –"  
"I wouldn't, Daisy. I'm in love with you."  
She starts crying, he's pretty sure.   
"Please stop the car," she says, and Coulson pulls over, Daisy throwing his arms around him before he can say anything else. She's sobbing into his shirt, holding on to him very tight, and he's wrapping his arms around her.

"I love you," she sobs. "I'd thought I'd lost you."  
"I'm here," he says. "Well, as much of me as I can remember."  
"That's more than enough," she tells his neck, and he pulls her closer.

*

"Do you think I'll ever remember again?," he asks her when they pull over next to a small lake.  
"You are remembering stuff," she says.  
"Yeah, but do you?"  
"I honestly don't know," she says, obviously a little sad, "but I hope you will. It's possible. You've been through so much ... you've dealt with so much, you're definitely the strongest person I know. I – it wouldn't surprise me if you did."  
He tries to smile.

"Some small things are coming back, though," he says. "Last night I dreamed of you."  
Her eyes get wide.  
"Nothing – nothing too big. But I remember you busting me out of a small wooden cabin or something, definitely saving my ass."  
She chuckles a little. "I remember that," she says. "Your ass definitely needed saving, that time."  
He looks very pleased.  
"And there's something else – us eating some sort of candy?"  
"That's a thing," she says. "We love sharing candy."  
"We do?," he asks, like she's just confirmed something incredibly cool.  
"Yeah." She takes his hand.  
They look up at the evening sky.  
"It's possible," she says.


	15. Chapter 15

That night, they sleep in the tent again, in the middle of a forest. The atmosphere is so absurdly peaceful that Daisy almost feels like crying a little or writing poetry or something. She does neither, instead she helps Coulson to find a good spot for their campfire. They've gotten some sausages and bread again, and it feels like they're partly repeating that tent night.  
"What's your favourite memory?," Coulson asks. It catches Daisy a little off guard.  
"What, you mean with you?" She sounds a little cautious.  
"No, yes, I don't know. I meant in general," he explains.

"Hmm. I'm not sure," she says. "To be honest, the first night after running away from the orphanage was quite amazing."  
"You ran away?"  
"Oh. Yeah." She's almost a little embarrassed. "I slept in the waiting room of a train station, it had heating and a drinks machine."  
"Sounds good."  
She looks at him for a moment, like she needs to make sure he isn't joking, but he's not. Coulson never is, not with this kind of thing.

"Other than that ... There's the time you brought me grilled cheese."  
"I did?"  
"Yeah. With a secret ingredient."  
He lights up. "I made you my mum's grilled cheese, then."  
She smiles. "It was delicious."  
When she waits for a moment, he adds, "Still not telling you," and it makes her laugh a little.

"What else do you like remembering?," he asks when they're done eating.  
"Um ... It's silly, but once I – I moved a mountain."  
"Like with your powers?"  
"Yeah."  
"That's ... Was I there?"  
"No." She smiles. "It was with my mum."  
"Wish I could have seen that," he admits. "I'm sure that was beautiful."  
She touches his arm as she stands up to get the tent out of the car. "Thanks."

As they're setting it up, Coulson looks very pensive. When they crawl inside, he doesn't ask her which side she prefers, but Daisy goes to cuddle with him anyway.  
"What do you suppose I would like remembering?"  
"Other than the things you remember anyway, you mean?"  
"Yeah. Stuff you would know about."  
She props herself up a little. "That's a good question," she says. "I mean – I'm not totally sure."  
She can't really see him that well since it's getting dark, but she knows he's looking at her expectantly.

"I mean – I've heard you got to meet Captain America," she starts.  
"I _did_?" He sounds adorably excited.  
"You did." She knows he can hear her smile.  
"Wow."  
"Also, there's a whole story about you and Agent Romanoff."  
"Natasha Romanoff?"  
"Exactly."  
"Okay?"  
"I don't know the half of it," she chuckles, "but I think she basically drank you under the table."  
"That's not hard to do," he admits.

"I think you also shot Loki before you died."  
"Loki?"  
"Yeah, the Asgardian who stabbed you."  
"With the long hair?"  
"Yeah." She turns to look at him. "Did you remember that now?"  
"Mhm."  
She settles back into his arms.

"What else would I enjoy remembering?"  
"Recruiting Bobbi, maybe? Morse?"  
"Why?"  
"She's pretty," Daisy says, with a smirk. "And really good at what she does."  
"Okay?," he chuckles.  
"Oh, and definitely trying out the newest prototype of your arm."  
"I like that?"  
"I think you're proud of the arm, yes." She pulls him a little closer. "Anyhow I think you should be."  
"Thanks."

*

They sort of just fall asleep hugging, both pretty exhausted after a long and quite day of driving. Then, suddenly, Coulson jolts away, instantly sitting up.  
"Daisy!"  
"I'm here?" She sits up, too. "You okay?" Her voice is sleepy.  
"I was – I just had a nightmare, I think? Or a dream?"  
She reaches for his hand. "What about?"  
"It was about – I was a teacher? I think?"  
"Like a history teacher?"  
"Yeah." He sounds shocked. "How did you know?"  
"That was in the Framework, that happened."  
"You mean in that ... alternate reality?"  
"Yeah. You were a history teacher there."  
"Oh."

She reaches for the torch at her feet, switches it on. The light is a little faint, they're going to have to find some batteries, maybe.  
"Did you have long hair there?," he asks.  
"I did."  
"And before that?"  
"I had long hair a while ago, yeah," she says, like it's a little uncomfortable to remember because she's remembering something else, too. "But I've had the shorter hair for a while now."  
"I think I remember you getting your hair cut."  
"You do? I cut it myself one night."  
"It's pretty," he says.  
"Thanks," she replies, still sounding tired, and she pulls him back down. He hugs her from the side.  
"Sorry I startled you."  
"No, it's important," she says. "Thanks for telling me."  
She can feel him nod.  
"Did you remember anything else?"  
"Don't think so."  
"Always tell me, okay?," she says, cupping his cheek with her hand. He nods again, and she feels him smile against her palm.


	16. Chapter 16

"I think we'll need to get some soap," she says when he climbs out of the tent in the morning. She shows him her sweater, there's some grease on it and some mud from the forest.  
He nods.  
"I think I dreamt of soap," he says, sitting down on a tree stump next to her.  
"You did?"  
"Yeah. You sound pleased."  
"What kind of soap?"  
"Blue soap? Like ... don't laugh. Government soap?"  
She chuckles. "I remember that. That's why you made your own soap in the Framework."  
He laughs. "I sound like a dork."  
"That's because you are," she confirms, walking over to him to kiss him good-morning.  
"We need to get going," she says, pointing at the sun. "We need to be there before it gets dark."  
He nods, goes to collect their things from the tent.

"Daisy?"  
They're already rolling out of the forest, very slowly. Daisy's driving.  
"Yeah?"  
"What are we going to do when we – when we land?"  
"Don't worry," she says. "Elena and Mack are going to meet us there."  
"Elena is Mack's girlfriend?"  
"His fiancé," Daisy smiles. "He proposed like a month ago."  
"How nice."  
"Yeah, they are great together." 

She gets the car back on asphalt.  
"They're going to make sure we're not going to get picked up by anyone else."  
"We?"  
"Yeah, who else?" She chuckles.  
"No, I know, but – I'm a fugitive from prison, more or less. Why would anyone want to pick you up?"  
"Because I smuggled you here? Besides, I'm – I'm trying to be an activist. Together with Robbie."  
"Robbie?"  
"Yeah. Robbie Reyes."  
"Is he cool?"  
"He is," she laughs. "Very. Much cooler than you."  
Seeing her face, he fake-sulks at that. "Thanks for that."  
She ruffles his hair with one hand, trying to focus on the road.  
"You're way cuter, though."

"We'll need to get rid of the car," Daisy says as they're getting close.  
"Bus?," he asks, gesturing towards a bus stop.  
She gives him a curt nod, pulls over. "I'll check."  
After a moment, she waves at him in affirmation, and Coulson reaches for her bag, gets out to join her.  
It takes only a few minutes for the bus to arrive, and it's only a few stops to their meeting point, Daisy checked on their map. 

"Tell me what you need me to do," he says after a while, a little nervous, since it's slowly getting dark.  
"Just stay calm," Daisy says. "Smugglers aren't the nicest of people."  
He nods. She puts her arm around him, because he looks nervous.  
"How did you manage alone?," he asks, but it's a rhetorical question.  
"I needed to find you."  
That makes him smile.

As they get off the bus, Daisy gestures for them to enter a gas station.  
"Water and food," she says. "And we should use the toilet."  
He nods, visibly nervous.  
"It's going to be fine," she adds.

*

Meeting the smugglers goes down okay, actually, and Coulson feels like he might have worried in vain. Obviously, they are rough people, only interested in their payment, no questions asked. Daisy hands them a very expensive-looking collier with framed emeralds from deep down in her bag, and he figures there are no emeralds on this planet.

He follows her into the cargo vault of the spaceship, a dusty, grey room filled with boxes and containers, smelling faintly of mold. She nods at the two men waiting at the door, and they bolt it from the outside. This is it, he thinks, either this works or it doesn't. Well.

He's about to ask how long it's going to take, when Daisy says, "It's only about one and a half days."  
"Okay." He suddenly looks very grateful. "Thanks."  
She walks over to him to hug him, then pulls him into a half empty container when she feels the ship start. They are both thrown into the back of it, hitting their back against the metal, barely managing to keep their heads out of the impact. They exchange a look, and while everything hurts right now, they exchange a smile.  
Coulson takes her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is obviously not exactly finished, but I decided to end this part here. I am planning to write a second part to it in order to resolve the plotline, but after trying for days and days to figure out how to continue, I thought it was best to let this be the last chapter. It offers the possibility for a follow-up and still more or less closes what I've been writing in the previous chapters. I hope that's okay. I'll try to find the right words for the rest of the story some time in the near future. Hope you still liked it and it's not too much of an open ending. ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Hope you liked it!
> 
> The title's from the Billie Holiday classic.


End file.
